Tuesday, 28 January 2014

On the 18th January 2013 at 3.20pm 15 year old Saleh Elamareen was standing outside a youth centre with a group of friends in Aida refugee camp, Bethlehem, when he was shot in the head with a suspected dumdum bullet, fired by an Israeli soldier.

After being rushed to the nearby Beit Jala Government hospital, where doctors treating him said he was close to death, he then was transferred to an Israeli Hadassah. The Israeli hospital reportedly claimed he was stable, but almost exactly a year ago, 5 days after he was shot, his death was officially announced and his body returned to the West Bank.

He had suffered large intracranial bleeding and the CT scan obtained shows the shattered bullet still in his skull. Two doctors who treated Saleh claimed the bullet that hit him was likely to be a dumdum bullet, which expands after impact and is illegal under international law. A third doctor claimed it was definitely a dumdum bullet. Dumdum bullets are internationally outlawed due to their design which is aimed to cause maximum damage and pain to the victim, the use of which, under certain circumstances, is a war crime.

In the days preceding Elamareen's killing, Aida youth had been protesting after a hole in the separation wall was made, but video footage taken from Lajee Refugee Center's security camera, the youth center Saleh was standing outside when he was shot, and witness testimonies, confirm that there was no protest happening at the time of the shooting.

As the anniversary of his death passes, the family still await any form of justice. His father, Ahmad, who used to earn his income from working inside Israel, has had his permit to work in Israel withdrawn following his son's death. more